Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
Because of the emphasis now being placed upon child-
resistant containers for dangerous substances such as drugs,
household cleaners, poisons, and the like, many suggestions of
combinations of containers and closu:res have been made in the
past. Some of these combinations ha~e utilized one-piece clo-
sures and special neck finishes on the containers so that the
two have cooperating parts which render them child-resistant.
Of the many types suggested, several have used axially depending
or radially extending tabs on the margins of the closure which
cooperate with abutments formed on the necks or the bodies of
the containers adjacent the necks.
U.S. Patent No. 3,770,153 issued November 1973 to
Gach et al. discloses a child-resistant closure of the "squeeze
and turn" type in which the closure skirt has depending tabs and
the container neck has abutments or recesses beyond which the
tabs are positioned when the closure is turned fully on to the
container. In order to remove the closure, it is necessary to
squeeze the closure skirt along a diametric line normal to the
diameter connecting the tabs to flex the skirt and the tabs out-
wardly so tha-t the user can turn the closure in a retrograde
direction and the tabs will pass the abutments which otherwise
preven. removal of the closure.
In my earlier U.S. Patent No. 3,989,152 dated November
2, 1976 and in U.S. Patent No. 3,993,208 issued November 23, 1976
to E.M. Ostrowsky the child-resistant combinations comprise tabs
on the skirt of the closure and abutments on the container shoul-
der and they are so designed that the tabs pass on the inner
sides of the abutments both when the closure is turned on to the
container and when it is to be removed.
Experience has taught tha-t it is preferable from a
~L
;.~;~
Q~:
user's standpoint to provide for squeezing the closure skirt at
the points and along the diameter actually connecting the tabs
rather than along a diameter at 90 from that connecting the
tabs. Thus the manner of opening closures according to my ear-
lier patent and the Ostrowsky patent disclosed above, may be
more readily perceived and understood by users of sufficient age
to be able to read the instruction legends which usually are
molded into the top surfaces of such closures.
However, when the closure skirt has to be squeezed
inwardly both when turning the closure onto and off of the con-
tainer, repeated removals and replacements tend to give the plas-
tic skirt a "set" in the inward direction thereby lessening its
child resistance.
It is therefore an object of the instant invention
to provide a squeeze and turn child-resistant closure for use on
and in combination with the threaded neck of a container which
has one or more abutments on its shoulder near the neck but
which provides that the locking tabs will pass on the radially
outward side of the abutments when the closure is turned onto the
container and which requires that these tabs be squeezed inward-
ly in order to remove the closure from the container.
According to the invention, there is provided child-
resistant locking means for a container having a tubular neck
with a neck finish for a twist-action cap, the means consisting
of, (a) an abutment on the container, -the abutment being spaced
radially outwardly from the outer side of -the neck and having
(1) a face lying substantially in a radial plane of the neck and
(2) an outer side extending from the outer edge oE the face in
a retrograde direction and angled inwardly -therefrom, and (b) a
deflectable tab on the cap, the tab having a portion that normal-
-- 2 --
ly extends radially outwardly into a position o engagement with
the face of the abutment and that is movable outwardly relative
to the face by engagementwiththe outer side o the abutment
when the cap is twisted onto the container neck to a closed posi-
tion and by manual inward deflection prior to retrograde rota-
tion of the cap from closed position.
According to another aspect of the invention, a child-
resistant closure means for a container having a threaded neck
comprises (a) an inverted, generally cup-shaped cap having an
inner skirt having threads mating with the threads on the con-
tainer neck, an outer annular skirt, a deflectable locking tab
axially projecting from the outer skirt, and (b) an abutment
on the container that is radially spaced from the outer side of
the container neck, tha-t has a stop-face lying at least general-
ly in a radial plane of the container neck, that has an outer
surface extending angularly inwardly from the outer edge of the
stop-face and that is located for engagement by the tab for pre-
venting retrograde rotation of the cap after the cap has been
turned onto the container neck to a relative angu~ar position
with the tab beyond the abutment face.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a closure and con-
tainer body according to the instant invention;
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view partly in eleva-
tion taken along the line 2-2 of Figure l;
Figure 3 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary, vertical
sectional view of the upper left hand portion of Figure 2 illus-
trating how the tab carrying outer skirt of the closure passes
on the outer side of the container abutment when the closure is
turned onto the container;
Figure 4 is A view similar to Figure 3 and illus-trat-
ing how the outer skirt of the closure is squee~ed inwardly in
order that the tabs thereon will pass the inner side of the con-
tainer abutment when it is desired to remove the closure from
the container; and
Fiyure 5 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary horizontal
sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 2.
Child-resistant locking means embodying the invention
are illustrated as being a part of a container 10 and a closure
11. The container 10 has a body 12 and a neck 13 which is pro-
vided with threads 14. The closure 11 is generally of inverted
cup-shape, consisting of a disk-like top 15, a threaded inner
skirt 16 and a relatively more flexible outer skirt 17.
The outer skirt 17 has a pair of diametrically posi-
tioned, depending tabs 18 which extend downwardly into inter-
engaging alignment with a pair of abutments 19 located on a shoul-
der 20 of the container 10.
Each of the abutments 19 has a face 21 which lies, at
least substantially, in a radial plane of the container 10 and
closure 11 and in the plane of the mold parting line 22 of the
container 10. Each of the abutments 19 has an inner surface 23
which is spaced away from the outer surface of the neck 13 so
that the associated one of the tabs 18 can pass between the inner
surface 23 and the neck 13. Each of the~abutments also has an
outer surface 24 which extends from the outer edge of the face
21 and is curved inwardly toward the neck 13 as best can be seen
in Figure 5.
The lower end of each of the tabs 18 preferably has a
beveled edge 25 so that when it engages the outer surface 24 of
the abu-tment 19 the reaction assuredly will deflect the tab 18
outwardly.
-
..
If ~he container 10 is utilized for li~uid materials,the closure 11 will be provided with a conventional liner 26, or
similar sealing means, and the neck 13 may have one or more
annular, sharp-edged ribs 27 which are engaged by the inner sur-
face of the lower portion of the threaded skirt 16 to assist in
sealing the container.
As can best be seen in Figure 5, when the closure 11
is turned onto the container 10, either by a capping machine or
by a user replacing the closure 11, the tabs 18 engage the outer
surface 24 of the abutment 19 and are cammed outwardly thereby,
flexing the outer skirt 17. No specific action is required on
the part of the user and no special attachment required on the
capping machine when the closure 11 is turned on to the contain-
er neck 13. When an adult or a child of more than tender years
desires to remove the closure 11, he presses inwardly against
the skirt 17, as illustrat`ed by the arrow in Figure 4, flexing
the tabs 18 inwardly so that they pass through the space between
the inner surface 23 of the abutment 19 and the container neck
13.
The outward flexing of the closure skirt when it is
turned onto the container is balanced by the inward flexing re-
quired in order to remove the closure. As a result the closure
skirt does not take a "set" even after repeated removals and
replacements and the closure tabs 18 are more likely to remain
in alignment with the abutments 19 as illustrated in Figure 5.
.~ ~
- -:
:
:~
